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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012.0906.TCREM.Minutesz:\council packets\2012\r9-20-12\120906m.docx Page 1 of 7 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MINUTES OF THE EXECUTIVE AND REGULAR SESSIONS OF THE FOUNTAIN HILLS TOWN COUNCIL SEPTEMBER 6, 2012 EXECUTIVE SESSION AGENDA  CALL TO ORDER Mayor Linda M. Kavanagh called the Executive Session to order at 5:30 p.m. in the Town Hall Fountain Conference Room at Town Hall. AGENDA ITEM #1 - ROLL CALL AND VOTE TO GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION: PURSUANT TO A.R.S. 38-431.03(A)(1), DISCUSSION OR CONSIDERATION OF EMPLOYMENT, ASSIGNMENT, APPOINTMENT, PROMOTION, DEMOTION, DISMISSAL, SALARIES, DISCIPLINING OR RESIGNATION OF A PUBLIC OFFICER, APPOINTEE OR EMPLOYEE OF ANY PUBLIC BODY (SPECIFICALLY, THE REAPPOINTMENT OF THE TOWN’S MUNICIPAL JUDGE.) Present for roll call were the following members of the Fountain Hills Town Council: Mayor Kavanagh, Councilmember Yates, Vice Mayor Leger, Councilmember Hansen, Councilmember Brown, Councilmember Elkie and Councilmember Dickey. Town Attorney Andrew McGuire and Town Clerk Bev Bender were also present. Councilmember Elkie MOVED to enter into the Executive Session and Councilmember Yates SECONDED the motion, which CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY (7-0). Judge Mitchell Eisenberg entered the meeting at 6 PM and left the meeting at 6:15 PM. Human Resource Manager Joan McIntosh entered the meeting at 6:16 PM and left the meeting at 6:20 PM. AGENDA ITEM #2 - ADJOURNMENT Without objection, the Executive Session adjourned at 6:20 p.m. REGULAR SESSION AGENDA * CALL TO ORDER AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Mayor Kavanagh called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. in the Town Hall Council Chambers * INVOCATION Mayor Kavanagh advised that the Men's Ministry Director for North Chapel could not attend the meeting and requested that everyone observe a moment of silence. * ROLL CALL Present for roll call were the following members of the Fountain Hills Town Council: Mayor Kavanagh, Councilmember Yates, Vice Mayor Leger, Councilmember Hansen, Councilmember Brown, Councilmember Elkie and Councilmember Dickey. Town Manager Ken Buchanan, Town Attorney Andrew McGuire and Town Clerk Bev Bender were also present. * MAYOR'S REPORT i.) The Mayor will read a proclamation declaring September 15, 2012 as "Play Day" in the Town of Fountain Hills. Mayor Kavanagh stated that play is a crucial factor in the overall well -being of children and play spaces and playgrounds within walking distance of children's homes are missing from many communities and neighborhoods. She z:\council packets\2012\r9-20-12\120906m.docx Page 2 of 7 said that unstructured, unplanned, spontaneous and self-motivated play is on the decline and fewer children spend time outside at parks and playgrounds. She added that recess is being shortened or removed from school curriculums and noted that children who play are healthier and suffer less obesity and obesity-related health problems such as diabetes and heart disease. The Mayor advised that children who play do better in school and develop cognitive skills that are linked to learning and academic performance. Mayor Kavanagh further stated that children who play learn the social skills that help them become happy and well - adjusted adults and parents and that schools, child care centers, nonprofit organizations, businesses, churches, synagogues, mosques and all interested parties wish to raise this community's children to become healthy, happy and successful adults. The Mayor therefore proclaimed September 15, 2012 as "Play Day" in the Town of Fountain Hills and urged all citizens to celebrate "Play Day" and support efforts to build and maintain play spaces and playgrounds in their communities and neighborhoods. * SCHEDULED PUBLIC APPEARANCES/PRESENTATIONS None * CALL TO THE PUBLIC Town Clerk Bev Bender advised that there were no citizens wishing to speak under this agenda item. * CONSENT AGENDA AGENDA ITEM #1 – CONSIDERATION OF APPROVING THE TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES FROM AUGUST 16, 2012. AGENDA ITEM #2 - CONSIDERATION OF RESOLUTION 2012-07, ACCEPTING A TRAFFIC SIGNAL EASEMENT AGREEMENT WITH MCO PROPERTIES, ON LOT 69 OF THE EAGLE RIDGE SUBDIVISION (AND LYING WITHIN THE CITY OF SCOTTSDALE); AND AUTHORITZING THE TOWN MANAGER AND TOWN CLERK TO SIGN THIS DOCUMENT. (EAA2010-05). AGENDA ITEM #3 - CONSIDERATION OF RESOLUTION 2012-24, ACCEPTING A SIDEWALK EASEMENT AGREEMENT WITH MCO PROPERTIES, ON LOT 69 OF THE EAGLE RIDGE SUBDIVISION (AND LYING WITHIN THE CITY OF SCOTTSDALE); AND AUTHORIZING THE TOWN MANAGER AND TOWN CLERK TO SIGN THIS DOCUMENT. (EAA2012-05). AGENDA ITEM #4 - CONSIDERATION OF APPROVING A SPECIAL EVENT LIQUOR LICENSE APPLICATION SUBMITTED BY WILLIAM LIONELL PAGEAU, REPRESENTING THE FOUNTAIN HILLS ELKS #2846, FOR THE PURPOSE OF A FUNDRAISER TO BE HELD AT 16766 E. PARKVIEW AVENUE, ON SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2012, FROM 1:00 PM TO 8:00 PM. AGENDA ITEM #5 - CONSIDERATION OF APPROVING A SPECIAL EVENT LIQUOR LICENSE APPLICATION SUBMITTED BY SAMUEL D. COFFEE, REPRESENTING THE SONS OF AMVETS SQUADRON NO. 7, FOR THE PURPOSE OF A FUNDRAISER TO BE HELD DURING THE OKTOBERFEST CELEBRATION, AT FOUNTAIN PARK (12925 N. SAGUARO BOULEVARD), FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 28 AND SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2012, FROM 5:00 PM TO 10:00 PM. Councilmember Hansen MOVED to approve the Consent Agenda as listed and Councilmember Yates SECONDED the motion. There were no citizens wishing to speak on any of these items. z:\council packets\2012\r9-20-12\120906m.docx Page 3 of 7 A roll call vote was taken with the following results: Councilmember Dickey Aye Councilmember Elkie Aye Vice Mayor Leger Aye Councilmember Hansen Aye Councilmember Yates Aye Councilmember Brown Aye Mayor Kavanagh Aye The motion CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY (7-0). REGULAR AGENDA AGENDA ITEM #6 - CONSIDERATION WITH POSSIBLE DIRECTION TO STAFF TO AUTHORIZE AN UNBUDGETED EXPENDITURE, IN THE AMOUNT OF $28,017.21, TO THE ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF WATER RESOURCES (ADWR), FOR THE MUNICIPALITY FEE FOR FY 2011-12 AS ESTABLISHED BY THE ARIZONA LEGISLATURE UNDER A.R.S. §45-118, WHICH WAS TABLED AT THE AUGUST 2, 2012 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING. Town Manager Ken Buchanan addressed the Council relative to this agenda item and said that pursuant to previous Council direction, staff has obtained additional information relative, which he would now like to share. He reviewed that the authority to collect this fee was given to the Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) by Senate Bill 1624, which is the Environmental Budget Reconciliation Bill. He noted that the Arizona Attorney General's Office submitted a demand letter, dated August 15, 2012, for the payment of the ADWR fee. He advised that staff recommends approval of the payment of the ADWR Fee in the amount of $28,017.21. Mayor Kavanagh thanked Mr. Buchanan for his remarks. She also reminded everyone that in the Council's packets they will find a copy of that letter (available both on line and in the office of the Town Clerk). Ms. Bender advised that one speaker has submitted a request to address the Council relative to this agenda item. Linda Bordow addressed the Council and pointed out that the demand letter was sent from the Collections Department of the Attorney General's Office and said that this fee must be paid by the Town. Councilmember Yates stated that they were not in favor of paying this fee because the law was a bad one but he respects and honors the Council's decision to table this item. He advised that he took a pro -active approach and made some telephone calls to the Town’s representation at the State Legislature, the State Senate, and spoke with the State Legislature's Senior Policy Advisor. He said that basically he would like to propose that they pay the bill and ask ed if they could put this off to their next budgeted fiscal year. He added that being that this is an unbudgeted item the money has to come from somewhere and they had discussed taking it out of wash maintenance. Mr. Buchanan interjected that the money would come from the Development Services Department and it is in last year's budget. He explained that it will come from that department and not the wash maintenance area in this year's budget (the Town is covered for that). Councilmember Yates commented that Mr. Buchanan is saying that it is budgeted for as a carry-over even though it is written as an unbudgeted expense and will not affect the Town's fiscal budget and Mr. Buchanan concurred with Councilmember Yates' summation of his remarks. z:\council packets\2012\r9-20-12\120906m.docx Page 4 of 7 Councilmember Dickey MOVED to approve the expenditure of $28,017.21 to the Office of the Arizona Attorney General's Office, Bankruptcy & Collection Enforcement Division for payment for the Arizona Department of Water Resources Fee and Councilmember Yates SECONDED the motion. There were no additional citizens wishing to speak on this agenda item. Vice Mayor Leger stated that there are a few closing comments that he would like to make. He noted that the Council has discussed this issue at a number of Council meetings and for him, as he has stated in the past, this whole thing is a matter of principle and policy. He added that the intent through their dialogue was to send a message to their local legislators that enough is enough and passing unfunded mandates to cover State expenses is really "over the top." He said that he hopes that in the future the Legislature will think twice about over -reaching and superseding local municipal governments and decision-making authority and stop balancing the State's budget on the backs of municipalities. He further stated that it goes without saying that as a Council they already have significant annual challenges in terms of balancing their own budget. He commented that he hopes that their expressed concerns regarding this mat ter strikes a core among their local State representatives but pointed out that only time will tell. Vice Mayor Leger reiterated that he hopes that their expressed concerns strike a chord with the legislators and they will think long and hard about the importance of preserving local control and autonomy for Arizona cities and towns as they move forward. He advised that this evening they have a motion on the floor to address a demand that came from the Arizona Attorney General's Office stating that the Town either pay the amount or face legal action. He stated that he has thought long and hard about this and although it’s tempting he noted that in the long run further push back would only cost the Town's taxpayers more than what they are looking at as far as the unfunded mandate. He added that it is "time to close the book on this matter," pay the unfunded mandate, and move on. Councilmember Elkie advised that when the Town first received the bill he was a little dismayed because no additional service was being offered. He emphasized that at no time has this Council broken or violated any laws or done anything unethical. He added that what they have done was table an item on three separate occasions in order to investigate the situation further (get legal counsel; speak with other cities and towns, etc.). He agreed that they don't want to spend a lot of money on this but it was the principle of it and Fountain Hills is the last Town in Arizona to pay this fee and he believes that they have made their position known and have stood up for the residents of the Town. He noted that if anyone looks back on the discussion regarding this issue it is clear why the Council took the position that they did. He agrees that it is time to move on with this and added that he does not want to spend thousands of dollars on legal litigation. Councilmember Dickey concurred with the comments made by the Vice Mayor and Councilmember Elkie and stated that she appreciates that they had put this back on the agenda as soon as they could. She noted that Bisbee and the Town was bullied once again first by the League (through a letter), then by the Senate President (through a newspaper threat), and now AG Tom Horne, so we will acquiesce as Bisbee had to. She stated that the Council tries to hold the Town harmless and pursuing this suspect collection notice legally would harm the Town financially so she agreed with her colleagues that they wouldn’t want to do that as it would undo the good they were trying to do . She added that their grandstanding didn’t alarm or intimidate us, and she expressed the opinion that the State is trying to cover up their law- making mistakes by going on the offensive this way. Councilmember Dickey stated she does not know why the Attorney General's Office got involved and got involved so quickly but it seemed to escalate quite quickly from a "rent due" notice to an "eviction" notice without any direct communication from the State. She reviewed that they had received a third party letter from the League of Cities and Towns and then they had to be aware enough to read a newspaper article to see the expression of outrage from the Legislature, so it seems that it went straight to this final notice to the AG. She commented stated judging from some of the things that had been in the paper recently that he (the AG) would have more important things to worry about than trying to get $28,000 out of our residents and the community. She discussed various State mandates that have impacted all of the cities and towns and mentioned that they had had their own brand of the voter manipulation in Fountain Hills. She said that it is disheartening to have these things happen. Councilmember Dickey urged the Town’s Representatives to feel like they do represent their en tire constituency. She said that to do that herself, here in this position, she indicated that she too will be voting to pay the fee. z:\council packets\2012\r9-20-12\120906m.docx Page 5 of 7 Councilmember Brown agreed with what was stated this evening and added that he would like to emphasize one more time that it is not the Council that has to pay this bill -- it is the citizens. He said he is proud to be a member of a Council that stood up as long as they did to let the Legislature know that this is a broken law and the Town should not be paying it. He added that with that being said he too will vote to pass it but with regret for the citizens of Fountain Hills. Mayor Kavanagh advised that she was one of two members of the Council who advocated paying this bill from the beginning. She noted that this item had been tabled several times before she became Mayor and one of her considerations was how much it was going to cost the Town to fight this. She said that it became pretty clear that they were either going to lose State Shared Revenues or they were going to be sued by the State. She commented that although she did not like the idea of paying the bill, she thought that it was the best thing for the taxpayers -- pay it and move on like all the other cities and towns have done. The Mayor added that she also had a very long discussion with Ken Strobeck with the League of Arizona Cities and Towns last week and she had thanked him for "going to bat" for the Town. She noted that the League is the Town's lobbying group and they try to get things like this repealed (items that are detrimental to cities and towns). She advised that he did "go to bat" for them and got 45 legislators to sign on to repeal this bill and at that point the money had already been distributed to ADWR and there were only three municipalities that had not paid the fee -- Fountain Hills being one of them. She stated that it appeared that this was going to be a fight that they were going to lose and if that happened, the Town would have had to pay the State's attorney's fees as well as their own. She said that for the taxpayers she made the decision to pay the fee regardless of whether she felt this was unfair because she knew that they were going to do something -- take State Shared Revenues or sue the Town. She suggested that they reach out to their legislators rather than constantly criticizing them and stressed the importance of discussing these issues before they get to this point. Mayor Kavanagh referred to the recent League conference and said that a lot of bills wil l be going through to the Legislature. She stressed the importance of keeping in touch with the League and following up on those bills so they can stop something like this before it reaches this point. She urged them to reach out to their State Represent atives and to their Senator whenever they feel that the Town is in jeopardy. Councilmember Hansen expressed her appreciation to Vice Mayor Leger for summarizing her sentiments exactly. Linda Bordow readdressed the Council and said that in her opinion this was not a great law and probably should never have applied to the Town but it was the law. She noted that they have the ability to push the law as far as they can without breaking it and that is what she believes happened in this case. She said that it is vitally important for everyone to pay attention to bills as they make their way through because many have unintended consequences. She also emphasized the importance of getting involved and providing input to the members of the Council and their representatives so that their voices can be heard. Councilmember Elkie commented that he realizes that they are a nation of laws but he thinks that it is important not to just "roll over" when issues come up and to take a stand when they think that a particular law is wrong. He pointed out that this bill was subsequently repealed and added that they were not just "sticking their thumb in the eye of the Legislature" -- they were investigating whether or not some of those legislators would take up this issue and perhaps make it retroactive so that the residents would not have to pay this particular tax. He reiterated that when they see something that is unjust they have to take a stand. He co mmented on the fact that they do have a representative form of government and the people that are elected are expected to represent the interests of their constituents. He said he knows it would be almost impossible to follow every single bill that goes through, that would be a full-time job, but that being said, when something comes up after the fact there are opportunities to take a stand and to protest and that is what they did, he thinks they did that effectively and he thinks they were heard. Mayor Kavanagh stated that she would respectfully disagree that they "rolled over" and pointed out that before she was Mayor this was protested and the Town went to the League and asked them to fight for us and get this law changed. She z:\council packets\2012\r9-20-12\120906m.docx Page 6 of 7 said that the League did that, they fought for them and the other cities and towns and got the best deal they could -- they got the bill repealed. She added that they thanked the League by turning on them and emphasized the importance of the League's support and said she believes they won when the League got this bill repealed. She noted that at that point they had had many hours of discussion about why they didn't like this bill but they should have paid it at that point. Councilmember Dickey described the input that the Council had provided on prior legislation and discussed the election bill as an example. She advised that the Council had voted unanimously to oppose this bill with individual letters written to legislators to oppose it and they had said no. She commented that she knows how to follow bills (did it for ten years) and she does and just because they might know what is in a bill doesn't mean they can change what is going to happen. Councilmember Dickey stated that they all know what had happened with 1462 on the last day of session without anyone knowing about it. She added that the fact that the bill had to be repealed was because their legislator, their representative, made it a permanent strike everything bill after it had gone through the process – nothing would had to be appealed, it was a one year deal. She said that after it was a one-year deal and it went over to the House and it got changed to become permanent and that was what was reversed. She noted that what was specifically done by their own representatives was the thing that had to be reversed. She added that she continually hears that they didn't have input and didn't follow up and keep their eye on the ball and that simply is not true. She stated that they (the Legislators) didn't do what the Town asked them to do and that often happens and that’s fine. She said the Town’s reaction was let’s find another way to see if this will change again and put another bill in the following year that makes it so we don’t have to pay in the future and that takes it away. That did not happen and the League would not pursue something like that. She said the Town’s reaction was let’s find another way to see if this will change again and put another bill in the following year that makes it so we don’t have to pay in the future and that takes it away. That did not happen and the League would not pursue something like that. She commented that it’s hard to tout not getting the Town's State Shared Revenues cut as an accomplishment -- they (the State) are not supposed to get those revenues in the first place -- those are Town revenues, the taxpayers in Town pay it and those revenues are doled out based on population and she did not understand why that was not clear. She pointed out that this went from reading about it in the newspaper, to receiving a letter from the League, to this demand letter from the Attorney General's Office -- but she does not believe that at this point it is worth fighting any more but it is important to have the truth be told. Mayor Kavanagh commented that as far as making some impact, last week at the League Conference she did attend the Resolutions Committee session and she had the opportunity to speak on behalf of Fountain Hills on 19 resolutions that the League put together and were going to request be turned into bills to the Legislature. She advised that she had the opportunity to voice her opinion to the League on whether she wanted the League to pursue it and she was successful in knocking down a couple of them that she thought would have been detrimental to the Town. She indicated that there were some drastic changes made to some, others were combined, others were dropped and she believes it was a very successful session. She added that this is an example of the types of things they have to do and stated that some of the bills, had she not been there, might have been passed on to the Legislature and then the Town would have had to fight them after the fact. She said that they start now, they look at what is coming up and do their best to contact their legislators, stay in touch with the League, and fight for Fountain Hills before things like this happen. The Mayor called for the vote. A roll call vote was taken with the following results: Councilmember Hansen Aye Vice Mayor Leger Aye Councilmember Dickey Aye Councilmember Yates Aye Councilmember Elkie Aye Councilmember Brown Aye Mayor Kavanagh Aye z:\council packets\2012\r9-20-12\120906m.docx Page 7 of 7 The motion CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY (7-0). AGENDA ITEM #7 – COUNCIL DISCUSSION/DIRECTION TO THE TOWN MANAGER KEN BUCHANAN. Items listed below are related only to the propriety of (i) placing such items on a future agenda for action or (ii) directing staff to conduct further research and report back to the council: A. NONE. AGENDA ITEM #8 – SUMMARY OF COUNCIL REQUESTS AND REPORT ON RECENT ACTIVITIES BY TOWN MANAGER KEN BUCHANAN. None. AGENDA ITEM #9 – ADJOURNMENT. Councilmember Elkie MOVED that the Council adjourn the meeting and Councilmember Yates SECONDED the motion, which CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY (7-0). The meeting adjourned at 7:00 p.m. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS By_________________________________ Linda M. Kavanagh Mayor ATTEST AND PREPARED BY: ______________________________ Bevelyn J. Bender, Town Clerk CERTIFICATION I hereby certify that the foregoing minutes are a true and correct copy of the minutes of the Regular Session held by the Town Council of Fountain Hills in the Town Hall Council Chambers on the 6th day of September, 2012. I further certify that the meeting was duly called and that a quorum was present. Dated this 20th day of September, 2012. ____________________________________ Bevelyn J. Bender, Town Clerk